Evening Update: COVID-19 cases spreading rapidly in China days after restrictions eased

Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:

China’s COVID-19 cases spread rapidly days after relaxing isolation measure

Less than a week after China lifted most pandemic restrictions, abandoning its tough zero-COVID response, a wave of cases is already building, which will severely test the country’s health care system.

Zhong Nanshan, China’s leading respiratory disease expert, told state media yesterday that infections were already “spreading rapidly” and would likely be impossible to contain. A former top health official predicted at least 60 per cent of the population, about 847 million people, will get the virus in this current wave.

Only a month ago the Communist Party leadership was vowing to “unswervingly adhere” to zero-COVID policies, which spurred widespread unrest and protests across the country.

Opinion: China’s “zero-COVID” drama foreshadows a future of political instability - Nancy Qian, professor, Northwestern University

This is the daily Evening Update newsletter. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was sent to you as a forward, you can sign up for Evening Update and more than 20 more Globe newsletters here. If you like what you see, please share it with your friends.

Canadian debt payments climb at record pace as interest rates rise

Canadians saw their wealth tumble and their debt rise substantially during the summer as the Bank of Canada aggressively hiked interest rates.

Households made about $230-billion in debt payments during the third quarter, a record increase of 5.6 per cent from the second quarter, Statistics Canada says. Meanwhile, household net worth fell by around $330-billion during the third quarter, following a record decline of more than $930-billion in the earlier quarter.

Canadian households owe $1.83 for every dollar of disposable income.

Read more: Bank of Canada governor warns geopolitical trends could make inflation fight harder

Opinion: The last time interest rates were this high, we were a simpler country of amateur spenders - Rob Carrick

Canadian medical grads trained abroad are increasingly giving up on their home country for work

Open this photo in gallery:

Matthew Macciaccheras is an aspiring orthopedic surgeon from Ontario in his final year at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. He’s among the thousands of Canadians getting medical degrees in places such as Ireland, Australia, Britain, Israel, the U.S. and the Caribbean.

They’re leaving Canada because it’s nearly impossible to get one of the 2,800 first-year seats in the country’s 17 medical schools – where roughly nine out of 10 applicants are rejected, often despite impeccable grades and qualifications, since demand far outstrips supply.

Many, like Macciaccheras, want to come home to begin a career in medicine, but can’t. These international medical graduates are increasingly working as doctors in other countries, where they’re highly coveted, because they’re often blocked from returning to Canada by a system that’s been slow to respond to crippling physician shortages here.

It’s a problem Canada can’t afford to keep ignoring, experts say.

Read more on health care:

• Jagmeet Singh threatens to pull NDP out of supply and confidence deal over health care
• Government, pharmaceutical industry deadlocked in negotiations over generic drug price

ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Fighting rages in east Ukraine: Russian missiles, artillery and drones hammered targets in eastern and southern Ukraine, the country’s General Staff said today as global economic powers pledged to beef up Kyiv’s military capabilities with a focus on air defences.

RIP Jim Carr: The Winnipeg MP and former Liberal cabinet minister has died after a long illness at 71.

Board candidates for Hockey Canada: The organization has named candidates to fill the nine vacant positions on its board of directors, including two-time Olympic gold medalist Cassie Campbell-Pascal.

Golden Globes nominations: After scandal and boycott plunged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association into disarray, the Golden Globes have announced its latest nominees, led by the black comedy The Banshees of Inisherin and the multiverse mash-up Everything Everywhere all at Once. Toronto filmmaker Sarah Polley has earned her first Golden Globe nod in the best motion picture screenplay category for Women Talking.

Opinion: Widely mocked Golden Globes return, but will anyone outside insular Hollywood circles care? - Barry Hertz

Crowd boos Musk at Chappelle show: It was a rather uncomfortable appearance for Elon Musk, Twitter’s new owner, at Dave Chappelle’s show last night in San Francisco. The comedian invited the billionaire on stage and asked the crowd to “make some noise for the world’s richest man.” They did. Lots of booing.

MARKET WATCH

U.S. stock indexes rallied today, lifted in part by gains in Microsoft and Pfizer, as investors girded for inflation data tomorrow and a policy announcement from the Federal Reserve Wednesday. Canada’s main stock index also closed higher, though gains were more modest and activity was uneven across sectors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 528.58 points or 1.58 per cent to 34,005.04., the S&P 500 gained 56.18 points or 1.43 per cent to 3,990.5, and the Nasdaq Composite added 139.12 points or 1.26 per cent to end at 11,143.31.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index advanced 72.63 point or 0.36 per cent to 20,019.70. The loonie traded at 73.35 U.S. cents.

Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com. Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop.

TALKING POINTS

Alberta will pay for playing the role of constitutional problem child

“The chosen political remedy – to throw the province’s legal and financial relationship with its federal government into uncertainty – is considerably out of step with its economic realities.” - David Parkinson

Canada looks to seal the deal for Volkswagen’s battery plant - and achieve a major milestone in its EV ambitions

“The more that [Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne] brings his provincial colleagues in on the sales job, the more it may strike a contrast to political dysfunction south of the border, strengthening the argument for Canada’s stability.” - Adam Radwanski

UFC is banking on Pimblett being good for business, no matter what happens

“Pimblett is the rare sort who can fight and talk at the same time. He’s able to walk that line between being sweet-natured and giving off a vague whiff of sociopathy. That combo sells.” - Cathal Kelly

LIVING BETTER

Starting today, low-income Canadians will be able to apply for a one-time, tax-free $500 government top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit program aimed at supporting an estimated 1.8 million renters, including students. Here’s what you need to know, including who is eligible and how to apply.

TODAY’S LONG READ

An Indonesian forestry giant becomes the new king of Canadian pulp (and paper)

Open this photo in gallery:

A privately held pulp and paper maker controlled by a member of an Indonesian business dynasty is tightening its grip on Canada’s forest sector with a flurry of takeovers, prompting environmental groups to raise concerns about the company’s influence and accountability.

Paper Excellence Group is owned by Jackson Widjaja, of the billionaire Widjaja family, and headquartered in Richmond, B.C. Earlier this year, it took the industry by surprise with the proposed takeover of Resolute Forest Products for US$2.7-billion. That deal is still being examined by the Competition Bureau after Resolute shareholders gave their approval.

If the sale goes through, it would cap an unprecedented, rapid-fire expansion for a forestry products company operating in Canada – one that’s generating mixed feelings across the country. Many industry consultants and analysts give Paper Excellence credit for investing in assets no one else wanted and keeping things running in mills that rival producers might have given up on years ago. Others are sounding the alarm. Read Nicolas Van Praet’s full story.

Evening Update is presented by S.R. Slobodian. If you’d like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday evening, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.